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Archive for 'Science Fiction Romance'



Kayelle Allen: When Characters Come Alive
Thursday, January 26th, 2017

When I wrote At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, I started it with a Fagin-style master thief in mind. His name was Luc Saint-Cyr and he would be the kingpin that everyone feared. Stories would revolve around his students, with him being the glue that held the stories together. In the first book, the two main characters would be brothers, Senth and Khyff Antonello.

After I started writing it, I hit upon the idea of making it a romance. The first would feature the younger brother, Senth, and the sequel would be about Khyff. Each brother would find the heroine he needed.

The Fagin character faded into the background. However, each time I wrote Luc into a scene, my critique group would ask when Luc would get his story. I had no story planned for him at all, so put it out of my mind. Luc had other plans. The more I wrote about him, the more I liked him. He surprised me at every turn, acting like the bad guy in one scene, but the good guy in another. An enigma. I could not figure him out.

I wrote him as I saw him, however, and by the end of the story, I was beginning to think there might be more to him than I thought. As I got to the very end of the story, literally the last page, I saw a huge twist I could throw into the plot that would not only bring Luc into the next book, but also set him up to have his own story.

I wrote it. Luc has since been in every story set in the Tarthian Empire. He changed completely from the way I originally saw him and became a complex creature with his own unique backstory and life. So much more than I conceived him to be. It paid to listen to my critique partners, but even more to listen to my characters.

The book has been a critical success. One reviewer wrote, “I wish I could recommend reading this book, but I must instead recommend reading it twice. The ending is a serious twist that throws everything into a different light.” Another said, “Think you know what’ll happen next? No way. It’s by Kayelle.”

I’ve tried to live up to those reviews and my own promise to readers in every book since. I promise a great roller coaster ride of a story that brings excitement, fun, and takes readers in directions they didn’t expect.

After I finished the two books in the Antonello Brothers series, I saw an opportunity to bring in a third brother older than both Senth and Khyff. Guess what? He has a strong pre-existing relationship with Luc Saint-Cyr. Who knew? It will be a surprise to everyone when it’s revealed. I’m plotting that one now.

At the Mercy of Her Pleasure
Antonello Brothers 1: a Scifi Romance

Hired to steal back a prototype taken by the imperial armada, Senth Antonello retrieves it, but his brother is kidnapped to force Senth to surrender the device.

Now he has to rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. He must do it in the company of NarrAy Jorlan, a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss.

He’s a thief. She’s a soldier. Do opposites attract? Oh, mercy!

Genre: Military science fiction romance set in a dystopian world.
Heat level: PG13 – sweet romance with a kick
Book length: 59,650 words (full novel)
Publisher: Romance Lives Forever Books
Series: Antonello Brothers (standalone books)
The sequel for this book is For Women Only.
The prequel to the series is Bro (and it’s free on my website).

Excerpt from At the Mercy of Her Pleasure

In this scene, Senth and NarrAy have just met. She’s considering whether to hire him to help her steal back the designs for a prototype her murdered parents designed. Because she’s a Better, an enhanced human with addictive pheromones, she’s not permitted to touch anyone skin-to-skin. Senth puts on gloves and prepares to shake her hand. All her life, she has been isolated from touch, so this moment is important to her.

NarrAy offered her hand. She’d practiced this with her father as a girl. “A gentleman doesn’t try to overpower a lady’s hand, NarrAy. But he isn’t afraid to be firm either.”

She held his gloved hand between both of hers. “I can see you’re a gentleman, Mr. Antonello.”

His cheeks reddened. “Just Senth, ma’am.”

She squeezed Senth’s hand. “And I’m NarrAy. Never Ms. Jorlan, nor ma’am. Not on this job. Understood?”

He met her gaze. “Does that mean you want me?” He blushed again and glanced down at their still-joined hands. “For the job, I mean.”

She bit back a laugh. What an innocent. “So long as we’re clear on who’s in charge.”

“When it comes to theft, NarrAy, I am. For everything else, you are, in every way.”

You have no idea. He had never once tried to look at her body. Maybe this dress will be okay after all.

“Come sit.” She gestured toward an adjacent room. “Let’s talk business.”

This book is free on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon https://amzn.to/1f7FQ2h
Amazon print https://amzn.to/2e4hpbX
CreateSpace (Print) https://bit.ly/bro-mercy-csp

About Kayelle Allen

Kayelle is a best-selling American author. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr.

Homeworld/Blog https://kayelleallen.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Facebook https://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author

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Jenna Ives: In The Court Of Love And Loss (Contest)
Monday, January 23rd, 2017

UPDATE: The winner is Debra G!

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Thanks so much for hosting me today, Delilah!

Readers of science-fiction romance, futuristic time travel, or fans of strong heroines may enjoy my new book, In The Court Of Love And Loss.  I’ll be giving away a free e-copy at the end of this blog post!

What inspired this story? When I was young, I always wanted to be an astronaut. I mean, how cool would it be to travel in space, discovering new things? Unfortunately, it turns out I get sick on a simple roller coaster, so the idea of being nauseous in the weightlessness of space was not exactly appealing. (And NASA probably wouldn’t have accepted me into its astronaut program anyway…) The solution? I became a science fiction romance author!

The best part about writing science fiction or futuristic romance is being able to build an entire world from your imagination. There are no rules, except the ones you create. My most recent book, In The Court Of Love And Loss, is set on a planet I call Sirene.

Here’s a little synopsis:

As Mistress of Justice on Sirene, Kyrie is able to judge an accused person’s guilt or innocence with a mere touch. Her unique gift makes her invaluable to the planet’s dictatorial leader, Galen, but Kyrie is dying. Abandoned as a child by her people, the Ouri, when they mysteriously fled Sirene, she’s grown up among the planet’s “other” race. Now, at age twenty-five, she must find an Ourian to mate with or die. Except there are no Ourians on Sirene.

Proteus is sent back to Sirene to rescue a five-year-old child accidentally left behind when he and all the Ouri fled the threat of uprising. But through a trick of time, what he finds instead on his return is an Ourian woman he is forbidden by law to mate with, even if it means saving her life. And when the autocratic Galen forces Proteus to sexually service Kyrie, Proteus uses every trick at his disposal to keep her alive, all while plotting their escape.

Galen and Proteus are desperate to save Kyrie for very different reasons–but they both know the fate of the planet depends on her survival.

This novel is full of secrets and lies, surprising twists and unexpected revelations, with a strong heroine whose fierce loyalty to her sense of right and wrong forces her to make hard sacrifices for the good of her world. And they are choices which affect her own life in profoundly shattering ways.

If you are a fan of A Court of Thorns and Roses, and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, you will enjoy this book!

Here’s a brief excerpt:

“I can’t leave here, Proteus.”

“What?” Proteus crossed the short distance to where Kyrie was sitting.

She looked up at him, a plea in her eyes. “I appreciate that you were sent back here to rescue me. After twenty years of wondering why I’d been abandoned when the Ouri fled, it is a relief to know I was not intentionally left behind. But if I can save even one innocent person from Galen’s false accusations—from his wrath—then this is my purpose. My destiny. I help these people, Proteus. I can’t leave here.”

“Kyrie, you are Sirene’s princess, the future of this planet. And now the woman I love. It is my fault you were left behind during the Ourian evacuation, and it is my duty to return you to your people. But there is still much you don’t know. About Galen. About your own people. You must come with me.”

“I made a promise to Galen that I would not leave Sirene.”

Proteus smiled. “You won’t have to leave Sirene to be reunited with the Ouri, Princess, because they are still here.”

“What? No one has seen an Ourian on Sirene for the last two decades!”

“Exactly,” Proteus agreed. “And the reason for that involves a trick of time.  Let me explain.”

*~*~* 

Sound interesting? If you’d like to read more, In The Court Of Love And Loss is available at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N63TY5Z/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1479256852&sr=8-4&keywords=jenna+ives
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-court-of-love-and-loss-jenna-ives/1125150547?ean=9781682522592
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/in-the-court-of-love-and-loss/id1176691132?mt=11
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/in-the-court-of-love-and-loss
LooseId Publishing: https://www.loose-id.com/in-the-court-of-love-and-loss.html?___SID=U

Contest

For a chance to win an e-copy of the book, answer this question: What is the name of the antagonist of In The Court Of Love And Lost? (The answer can be found in my synopsis.) Leave your email address with your answer in the Comments section J One winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!

A little about me:

I’m an award-winning author who writes for several publishers under a variety of names, but mainly it’s to protect my poor sainted mother (who used to read sweet Harlequin novels) from discovering how sexy modern romances have become! I love to tango, travel and I’m obsessed with the Rolling Stones, travelling to different cities and countries around the world to see them play. You can visit my website at www.jennaives.com or my blog at https://www.fierceromance.blogspot.com. Or connect with me on Twitter @JennaIvesAuthor or on Facebook, Goodreads or Pinterest.

Thanks again for hosting me today, Delilah!

Jenna Ives

Jennifer Kacey: Elite Elements is Coming (Giveaway)*
Friday, January 13th, 2017

UPDATE: The winner is…Jen B.!

* * * * *

Elite Metal and Elite Ghosts are two HUGE labors of love that a group of my favorite people and I put together over the last three years. It’s a shared world of three groups of military men and women brought back from the “dead” to catch a wolf. Red Wolf. Revenge against the baddest of the bad is what drives them, and to take back the lives he stole from each of them.

Elite Elements will be the final book in this epic trilogy. This is the story of the men and women who saved Elite Metal on the snow covered ground in Moscow. These are the men and women from around the world who don’t exist and pulled Elite Ghosts into the shadows with them. These are the soldiers who gave up everything to take down a wolf. And in this book…everything you thought you knew reaches the point of no return.

Elite Elements will be here in February. I. Can’t. Fucking. Wait.

In case you haven’t found Elite Metal and Elite Ghosts yet….let me blow your mind. https://www.jenniferkacey.com/books/elite-metal.html

For decades the US Marines funded a top-secret unit known as Elite Recon. A deadly group of men and women sent to infiltrate dozens of countries completely undetected. Mission objectives so extreme casualties were not only probable, but expected.

The current batch of operatives had returned from hundreds of assignments unscathed…until one mission went horribly wrong. Several men lost their lives and the group disbanded. The remaining leathernecks were scattered in the wind with new identities. They were told to blend in. Be normal. Or face being forever silenced just like their fallen brothers.

Now, two years later, each living member of the group is kidnapped and given a chance to make things right. But this time they’re no longer under the thumb of Uncle Sam. A mysterious private backer who knows about their past has brought them back together. No longer are they forced to turn a blind eye to the lost and forsaken.

Duty is their salvation.

A new life. A new future…Elite Metal.

Amazon Buy Link

 

Then we have Elite Ghostshttps://www.jenniferkacey.com/books/elite-ghosts.html

For more than two years they’ve been ghosts. Nothing but names on empty tombstones. Men and women forced to fade into the background after being pulled from the rubble. Dead Marines saved from a fate worse than death, but ordered to stand down while their lives disappeared all around them.

Some knew it could happen if a mission exploded. Double crossed by more than just Red Wolf. But now is their time to be reborn from the flames of a Phoenix. No longer imprisoned in the shadows. A half-life between them and their future. To make things right coming back to life is their only option.

Loyalty is their salvation but damage is always more than skin deep.

A new hope. A new family. Elite Ghosts.

Amazon Buy Link

In honor of the above awesomeness I’m going to have a HUGE giveaway! Three print books and lots and lots of other swag and kinky goodies! Plus a mug and tea and a pretty WIP bag to hold it all!

**GIVEAWAY – US ONLY**

Look at all the awesomeness you could win!! So tell me if you’ve ever read any of the Elite Warrior stories!! And if you have – what you’re most looking forward to in Elements!!

I’ll pick a winner on Monday the 16th!! Good Luck!!

Decadently Yours,
Jennifer Kacey

 

About the Author

Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her miniman in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.

Website Newsletter The Decadent DivasAmazon Page
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Close Encounter of the Carnal Kind
Tuesday, October 4th, 2016

Just letting you know about a new-old release that’s out tonight! This is a story that appeared in a now defunct publisher’s anthology several years ago. And the story exists in the same universe as Warlord’s Destiny. It’s been reedited, spruced up, and is now ready for prime time…if prime time censors allowed alien naughtiness…

Close Encounter of the Carnal Kind

closeencounterofcarnalkind_600

Etienne Lambert, a Cajun ex-soldier fresh from the horrors of the war in Iraq, discovers that he’s an alien when an alien woman arrives at his door to take him home. When he resists, she kidnaps him. He soon learns he is the last potent male in the royal line of their planets, and it’s his duty to return to sire the next generation of the ruling caste.

Marika is a fightership commander who has succeeded where all the mages, seers, and trackers have failed. She has found her planets’ last hope for salvation! When the future king demands that he start work immediately on the primary mandate of his rule—to sire children—she can’t refuse his command.

Get your copy here!

Enjoy an excerpt…

Etienne leaned forward, cuddling his beer between his hands, letting the silence wrap around his jangled nerves. Here in the swamp, in a hunting cabin filled with happy memories, he hoped to finally shrug off his soul-deep sadness. He loved his brother and family, but he didn’t want to invite them into the dark place he’d been forced inside ever since Tekrit.

Arnaud had left half an hour before, frustrated and hurt. Etienne knew it, but couldn’t reach out to his brother, not yet. Maybe a few more days of staring out at the green, wet world around him would drown the memories of the sun-baked dirt that drank his buddies’ blood like a thirsty sponge.

He needed time to fit back into his old life. He snorted at that thought—like he’d ever really fit in to begin with. Taller by a foot than his brothers and pale-skinned to their olive, he’d often wondered if he hadn’t been traded in the bassinet at birth. And he’d never been satisfied with what life offered him in the bayou—which was why he’d enlisted in the first place.

A twig snapped nearby, and Etienne froze. As if he’d never left Iraq, time slowed, and in one long moment he realized the crickets had stopped their raucous chirping, and the owls no longer called to one another—he had a visitor.

Etienne eased from his chair, ignored the cane, and slid into his cabin. The gun, already loaded with shot to pepper any reporter’s ass, stood next to the door. He reached for it.

Footsteps crunched closer then climbed the wooden steps just as he swung back around with the shotgun cradled in his arms and stepped forward to block his doorway. But the woman who strode toward him wasn’t like any reporter he’d ever seen. She was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever encountered.

Her smile was tentative as she stopped directly in front of him. Her gaze widened as she stared upward for one long moment. Then she drew in a deep breath, lowered her gaze, and knelt at his feet, pressing her forehead against his thigh.

Etienne felt a frown furrow his forehead, wondering what the hell was going on. He tried to nudge her away, but she grasped his calf and clung, speaking softly, the words guttural and lilting at the same time. Definitely not English. Not like anything he’d ever heard in his travels.

When she rose, her eyes glittered with moisture, which she quickly blinked away. This time the smile she flashed was joyous.

Etienne’s suspicions roused, and he glanced out into the darkness, wondering whether he was the butt of a joke and not liking it one damn bit. Was Arnaud responsible for this?

The woman in front of him was fresh-faced, her expression too open and innocent-looking to be real. His glance raked over her body. She was clothed from her neck to the tops of her shiny brown boots in a skin-hugging material that looked soft as suede leather, as soft and golden-brown as the large eyes she raised to stare up at him.

Color crept over his cheeks as he realized he’d stood frozen in place, transfixed by the woman’s beauty. Beautiful or not, innocent or not, she didn’t belong here. “Cher, you can turn right around and go back where you came from,” he said, the words coming out less harsh than he’d intended.

She smiled and started to speak again, and then rolled her almond-shaped eyes. She lifted her fingers to her ear and tugged at the shiny stud stuck in her left lobe. “Sorry ’bout dat. I forgot to turn on my translator,” she said in a Cajun accent.

Not a reporter, not with that accent. And yet, not from around her by the tone of her skin. Etienne sighed and propped the shotgun beside the door. “All right, who put you up to this? Arnaud?”

She shook her head, which shivered her long, dark hair around her shoulders. “Didn’t Jacques tell you?” she asked, her expression falling. “He was s’posed ta give you a message.”

His eyes narrowed. “I haven’t seen him since I returned. But you can tell him: thank you very much, but I’m not interested—however attractive you are, cher.” He turned to reenter his cabin.

A small, slim hand clamped on his forearm. “But you don’ understand how important dis is—”

Etienne shrugged her off, ignoring the plea in her doe-like eyes. “Look, I’m sure you’re very good at…whatever it is you do—”

“I’m da best!” she said, eagerness shining in her face. “Dat’s why I’m here.”

“Fucking hell! I can’t believe he thought I needed a whore,” Etienne muttered under his breath.

“A whore?” The woman’s face screwed up with a look of confusion. “Wait, I think I’m not translatin’ dat word correctly.”

“This is a joke, right?” Etienne blew out the breath he’d been holding since she appeared. “He sends you in that space costume, and you’re supposed to do what? Give me a ride?” His eyes widened, and he jerked back a little. “You’re not expecting to probe my ass, are you?”

“Only if you won’ surrender your sperm, Sire,” she said, a blush rising to her cheeks. “I can assist you…” Her voice trailed off, and she nibbled at the edge of her full lips.

“I just bet you can,” he murmured, wondering why he was fighting this so hard. The woman was a knockout. She was tall and slim-hipped, with small, round breasts. Any one of his old buddies would have given a month’s pay to slide between her thighs.

As he appraised her attributes, her nipples beaded beneath the soft, thin leather. “Perhaps you need a little foreplay ’fore you gimme your semen?” she asked, with a flirty tilt of her head. She straightened and thrust out her chest, but the effect was robbed of vampdom by her girlish smile. She was one hell of a confusing, yet alluring, package.

Jacques knew what he was doing. If she’d carried the odor of the streets on her, he’d have sent her on her way in a heartbeat.

Etienne felt his anger waver. Her skin was creamy-pale without a hint of tan, her pores so fine he knew her cheeks would be as soft as a baby’s. He wondered if the rest of her would be as soft. This close, he could smell the fragrance clinging to her skin—like almonds mixed with a musky floral scent that tugged at his cock.

The woman shifted on her feet as he stared, and then squared her shoulders. “We’ll never know until we get dis done.” She reached for the fly of his jeans.

“Wait a minute…” His hand closed over hers to halt her.

She looked up, a question in her guileless gaze.

“Where the hell did he find you, sweetheart?” he murmured, staring down at her. A dimple dented one cheek. A damn dimple.

“Oh, I found him.”

Her grin was childlike, and it angered him that she was playing with him. “Was he drunk when you fed him that line about surrendering his semen?”

She tilted her head to the side, her smile faltering. “Line?”

Etienne swore beneath his breath, patience at an end—restraint beyond his control as angry anguish exploded inside him. He gripped her waist hard, pulling her toward him. If his uncle thought a prostitute would prod him from his blue funk, who was he to argue? He certainly hadn’t managed on his own. Maybe this was what he’d waited for…

Her mouth opened around a startled gasp, which he breathed in as he sealed her mouth with his.

But her lips didn’t move beneath his. When he opened his eyes, he found her wide-eyed gaze staring back at him. He pulled his head back. “Kiss me,” he said, his voice gruff. “This is what you came for, isn’t it?”

“I came for your sem—”

He didn’t want to hear her story again and slammed his mouth down to shut her up.

This time she pressed back, sliding her lips beneath his. Her kiss was soft and tentative, drugging to his jaded senses. Her breaths came quick and excited, puffing into his mouth. Despite the fact, or perhaps, because she wasn’t very good at kissing, an electrical charge of heat pulsed throughout his body, tightening his loins.

Etienne groaned and pulled her body flush with his, grinding his cock against the soft cleft he found between her legs.

Her hips jerked then pushed forward, finding his rhythm, sliding her sex against his as she moaned into his mouth.

With her breasts mashed against his chest, his shaft riding her mons, Etienne drank from her lush, feminine mouth. The softness trembling against him soothed and excited his soul. He hadn’t known how badly he needed this—needed her—until this moment. He sank into the kiss, spearing her mouth with his tongue, sweeping inside like his body ached to burrow into her sweet flesh.

But she wasn’t the answer to his problems—she wasn’t even here because she wanted it. Good old Uncle Jacques had sent her.

Etienne realized he was only fighting himself. He’d wanted solitude to lick his wounds, but his family seemed to understand that deep down he needed to be touched.

This woman’s soft hands were as good as any. At least she wouldn’t be expecting him to spill his guts. He broke the kiss and pushed her back. “Go ahead,” he said, releasing her hand. “Take my semen,” he bit out, bitterness licking the embers of his anger into flame once more.

She swallowed, looking a little frightened by his anger. If she was scared, fuck her. This was what she’d been paid to do.

Eyeing him with caution, she flicked open the snap at the waistband of his jeans. Then she drew down his zipper and knelt in front of him to ease his jeans past his hips.

He wasn’t wearing any underwear, so his sex pushed into the widening gap until it sprang free. The warm breeze blowing over his flesh and the woman’s intent stare did the rest. His cock quickly filled and rose.

Etienne sucked in a deep breath and raised his hands to brace himself within the doorframe as the woman bent over him.

She licked her lips. “I’ll make dis quick.”

“Don’t rush on my account.” Now that he’d decided to enjoy his “gift”, he wasn’t in any hurry.

The woman cleared her throat, opened her mouth, and swallowed the head of his cock.

Etienne groaned and his toes curled inside his boots. The sensation of her hot, moist mouth drawing on his sex was so exquisite it hurt.

Her gaze never left his as she drew back and licked around the soft head. The sight of her pink tongue darting out to lap at him tightened his groin. She followed the ridge all the way around then licked down his length, caressing him with firmer strokes as she went.

Etienne gritted his teeth as she took her time, priming him. Her head dipped, and her dark hair shimmered in the moonlight as she worked his flesh.

She returned to the head and suctioned it into her mouth, her eyes closing as her lips drew hard, her cheeks hollowing with the effort. Then her hands glided up his thighs. One cupped his balls, already drawn taut and close to his body. She kneaded them gently with her palm and fingers, rolling and tugging until he pulsed his hips, beginning the drive toward release. The other hand circled the base of his cock and squeezed, twisting up and down his shaft.

A throbbing started in his injured leg, interrupting his upward climb, and he eased his weight to his good leg then clamped one hand on the back of her head to encourage her to take more of him, deeper into her throat.

Her jaw opened wider, and her teeth skimmed his length as he pushed his cock along her tongue until he butted the back of her throat. With his body wound tight as a coil, he closed his eyes and let his head fall backward, groaning as she dipped and bobbed faster—sliding down him, sucking hard on the upstroke. Christ, she had a talented mouth.

Just as he was ready to let her sweep him along in a frenzied tide, the hand cupping his balls slid farther back, her fingers tracing the cleft of his buttocks.

Before he could utter a protest, one finger eased inside his ass, tunneling then manipulating his prostate. With a shout of protest mixed with anguished release, his hips bucked, and his body exploded, come jetting inside the woman’s mouth.

Etienne bit back a curse and pumped twice, weak thrusts now, his body trembling in the aftermath. He curved his fingers around the wooden doorframe and opened his eyes to glare down at the woman. “My ass was off limits.”

Her lips pursed, and she reached for the belt cinching her small waist, pulling a small vial from beneath it.

While he watched, furious, she spat his creamy come into the vial, and then held it aloft and tugged her ear. She murmured something unintelligible, and light glimmered around the small bottle before it flickered and blinked out. When the light disappeared, so did the vial.

Etienne blinked. “What the hell?”

The woman rose and tugged up his pants, but he shoved her hands away and finished the job, tucking his cock inside. All the while, his gaze never left her.

As soon as the snap of his jeans closed, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside the cabin and into full light. “What the hell just happened?”

Her gaze met his, her chin raised in defiance. “I sent your sperm ta my ship. We need ta know if you’re potent.”

“Ship?” His mind skipped over that detail for the moment to return to the one blaring a warning in his mind. “Why the hell do you need to know I’m not shooting blanks?”

“If you’re potent, Sire, I’m here ta take you home.”

Sire? “My home is here. I’m not going anywhere.” He raked his hand through his hair, still rattled at seeing his come disappear into thin air. Perhaps Uncle Jacques hadn’t been drunk after all.

“Sire, if you’re potent, you must return ta fulfill your destiny.”

“And what might that be?” he asked, half afraid to hear the answer.

Her wide-eyed gaze filled with dreamy fervor. “To assume the mantle of kingship and lead our forces in the war against the Gracktiles.”

He snorted, wondering what rabbit hole he’d just fallen into. “Is that all?”

She bit her bottom lip and shrugged. “Oh, and to beget the next generation of our ruling caste…”

Etienne eyed her clothing. A uniform of some sort, no doubt. He noted her poreless skin, her perfect features. Aliens weren’t little and green. They were seductively beautiful. And now they had his come. A flash of some emotion, maybe excitement mixed with a little dread, filled him. He hoped he wasn’t sterile.